Jig



p 29, 1953 w. c. STEINMETZ 2,653,715

' JIG Filed June 6, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l WALTER C .5115 H M ETZ aux/ Patented Sept. 29, 1953 JIG Walter C. Steinmetz, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application June 6, 1950, Serial No. 166,395

6 Claims. (Cl. 209-457) This invention relates to a jig and an object of the invention is to provide a jig in which high gravity material is discharged into the housing of an elevator which communicates with the material holding container portion of the jig, the communication between said container and housing being through a rotary valve, preferably a star wheel valve, to the end that the water pulsations in said container shall efiectuate the separation of high gravity from low gravity material and will not produce surging of the water in the elevator housing.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combination being set forth in the appended claims In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view, with the parts broken away and in section, showing a jig incorporating parts of my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a front end elevational view, with the parts broken away and in section, showing said Jig.

Referring to the drawings, the illustrated embodiment of my invention includes a tank or container it? having a pair of laterally spaced upright side walls between which there extends a perforated plate or screen H upon which a bed of material is adapted to be supported while undergoing stratification and gravity separation due to the cyclic upward and downward pulsations of the water through said screen II in an essentially standard and well known manner.

Intermediate the front and rear of the side walls of the container is there is a transverse generally upright partition 12, the upper portion of which is formed to provide a sloping feed chute l 3 by which material to be separated is fed to the container Ill and supported by the screen H. The screen ll slopes gradually towards a high gravity discharge chute l4 formed above the discharge edge of feed screen II and below a low gravity discharge weir l5 over which low gravity material with a certain amount of water discharges in a standard manner.

A discharge of the high gravity material through the chute i4 is controlled by a star wheel type discharge valve havin a float controlled ratchet operating mechanism Hi, all of which is of generally standard construction and may follow, for example, the disclosure in Patent No. 2,132,378 dated October 11, 1938.

To the rear of the partition l2, and within the container l0, there is a pivoted piston or flapper ll which is operated by a crank rod l8 :from a power driven shaft 19 which shaft also operates an eccentric rod 20 causing reciprocation of the pawl of discharge mechanism [6. The shaft I9 is driven from a motor 2| through appropriate belt or chain drive mechanism 22. Water is delivered at a controllable rate to the tank In through the feed pipe 23, provided with the usual control valve, not shown.

The bottom of the container l0, below the screen II and piston ll, provides a hutch compartment 24 the sides of which are sloped toward the center, as clearly illustrated in Fig. i of the drawings, thereby leading to a discharge chute 25 the bottom of which communicates with the bottom of ahousing 26 of a bucket elevator 21 provided with endless draft chains 28, or the like, carrying spaced buckets 29 by which high gravity material delivered to the elevator 21, is elevated and discharged through a discharge chute 30. The draft chains 28 are driven from a motor 3| through a standard chain and sprocket or belt drive 32.

In jigs having the general construction above described as heretofore manufactured, there generally was direct and unrestricted communication between the container, similar to the container l0, and the elevator, similar to the elevator 21. This was obtained through the hutch compartment, similar to the hutch 24, or through a refuse discharge compartment which received the high gravity material through a chute, similar to the chute l4.

In such an arrangement two undesirable characteristics exist, First of all the pulsating up and down movement of the liquid through the screen H produces a similar pulsating up and down movement of the liquid in the elevator casing. In view of the fact that the material and water which went through the screen II was the only moving water which was producing a cleaning action on the bed of materials, this moving water alone was doing useful work.- Furthermore, the resistance of this water to upward movement was obviously greater than that encountered by water substantially free to move upward through the elevator casing. As a consequence there was often appreciable greater cyclic movement of water upward and downward in the elevator casing, where it did no good, than through the screen I l and the bed of materials thereon where it efiectuated a separating action.

The second result, therefore, in such instances was the ineificiency of the unit, particularly in the inefficient use of the energy expended in producing the pulsating or cyclic up and down movement of the water. These objectionable characteristics of such devices have been overcome and the pulsating movement of the water has been confined largely to useful movement through the screen II and the bed of materials thereon undergo Stratification. To accomplish this, while at the same time providing for discharge of high gravity material from the screen i l into the housing 26 of the elevatorfl, it is to be noted that the high gravity material discharged through the chute I4 is delivered to the hutch compartment 24. Due to the slope of the adjacent bot! tom wall of said hutch compartment 24 this high gravity material will readily fall into the chute 25. the suction stroke through ;the semen M. :will readily fall into the chute 25.

To control positively the movement oi the gravity material from the hutch compartment into the chute 25, while isolating the hutcheome I partment 24 from the elevator housing 26, I provide a rotary star valve-33adjacent the-top. of lthe chute 25 which is so constructedby the overlap of the plates of the rotor and adjacentiopposite arcuate contacting valve-walls as to prevent flow of water through-the chute 2-5. .The'rotaryvalve 33 is preferably continuouslyzrotatedby apprepriate drive mechanism 34, driven from themotor 2|, so that high gravity material delivered to the entrance of the chute=25 will be fed by the rotor of feed valve 33 for delivery into the bottom of the housing 26. While some water will, oi} course, pass through the valve 33 said valve will prevent surging of the water upwardly and downwardly in said elevator housing 26, which would otherwise take place.

In the operation of the. apparatus,material s oi diil'erent specific gravitywhich areto be separated will be delivered tothe feed chutel3 and into the container In above the screen II where a bed of materials will be formed. The motor 2| will be placed in operation the :desired amount of water continuously delivered to the tank I 0. Piston i1 .will be reciprocatedwith arcuate movement producing the cyclic .pulsion and suction strokes of the water throu h the, screen ll thus stratifying the bed cf materials thereon. During each pulsionstrolre a-pertion of the water and low gravity material will flow over the 'weir l5 and be dischargedv as a clean product or as refuse, as thelcase may The high gravity material will stratify in the lower portion of the material bed and the discharge rate thereof will be controlled by the float operated control mechanism [6. High gravity material thus discharged, together with any hutch material, will accumulate in the entrance of chute 25 and be fed from the hutch compartment 2! into the bottom of the elevator housing :35, through feed chute 25, and under the positive control of the rotary star valve 3 3,which iseflfec: tive to confine the surges or pulsations of the water orfluid in the tank iorcontai lflrzllhand prevent such surges or pulsationsintherhousing 26 of elevator 21.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and applicant therefore wishes not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

aving thus described and shown an embodiment of the invention, what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is;

Furthermore, any fines-which ar d b z 1. A jig including a container adapted to hold water, a screen in said container upon which material is to be jigged, a weir adjacent said screen over which low gravity material flows with water, said container forming a hutch compartment below said screen, an elevator having a housing communicating with the hutch compartment of said container, means for causing a periodic upward flow of water through said screen, rotary highgravity discharge valve means adjacent said screen for discharging high gravity material to said hutch compartment, rotary star wheel valve means between said hutch compartment and said elevator housing effecting a seal therebetween through which high gravity material is dis- :charged-and operative for preventing surging of waterin saidelevator housing when it is caused tolflowupwardlyas aforesaid, and means to rotate said rotary star wheel valve means to discharge .Zhigh gravity material from said hutch compartment into said elevator housing while preserving said seal therebetween.

,ZLAJig including a container adapted to hold Wat r, a screen in said container upon which materialzis tobe jigged, a weir adjacent said screen over which low gravity material flows with water, said container forming a hutch compartment below said screen, an elevator having a housing communicating with the hutch compartment of saidcontainer, means for'causing a periodic upward flow of water through said screen, means ad acent said screen for discharging high gravity material to said hutch compartment, rotary star wheel valve means between said hutch compartment and said elevator housing eiiecting a seal therebetween through which high gravity material is discharged and operative for preventing surging of water in said elevator housing when it is caused to fiow upwardly as aforesaid, and means to rotate said rotary star wheel valve meansto discharge high gravity material from said hutchcompartment into said elevator housing while preserving said seal therebetween.

,3. A jig including a container adapted to hold water,'fa'screen in said container upon which material is .to be jigged, a weir adjacent said screen .over which low gravity material flows withwater, said container forming a hutch compartment below said screen, an elevator having a housing communicating with the hutch compartment of said container, means for causing a periodicupward flow of water through said screen, means adjacent said screen for discharging high gravity-material, rotary-star wheel valve means between said hutch compartment and said eleveterhqusing effecting a ,seal therebetween through which high gravity material is discharged,- and operative for preventing surging of water insaid elevator housing when it is caused to flow upwardly as aforesaid, and means to rotatesaid rotary star wheel valve means to discharge high gravity material from said hutch compartment into said elevator housing while preserving said seal therebetween.

4. A jig including a container adapted to hold water, a screen in said container upon which material, is to be jigged, a weir adjacent said screen over which low gravity material flows with water. said container forming a hutch compartment below said screen, an elevator having a housing communicating with the'hutch compartment or said container, means for causing a periodic upward flow of water through said screen, means adjacent said screen for discharging high gravity material, rotary valve means between said hutch compartment and said elevator housing effecting a seal therebetween through which high gravity material is discharged and operative for preventing surging of water in said elevator housing when it is caused to flow upwardly as aforesaid, and means to rotate said rotary valve means to discharge high gravity material from said hutch compartment into said elevator housing while preserving said seal therebetween.

5. A jig including a cleaning container, means for causing a pulsation of water therein, an elevator having a housing communicating with said cleaning container, and rotary star valve means between said cleaner container and said elevator housing operable to deliver material therebetween While substantially preventing the surging of water between said cleaning container and said elevator housing and vice versa.

6. A jig including acleaning container, means for causing a pulsation of water therein, an elevator having a housing communicating with said cleaning container, and rotary valve means between said cleaner container and said elevator housing operable to deliver material therebetween while simultaneously preventing the surging of water between said cleaning container and said elevator housing and vice versa.

WALTER C. STEINMETZ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 942,461 Prochoska Dec. 7, 1909 1,102,574 Elmore et al July 7, 1914 2,074,977 Bird Mar. 23, 1937 2,132,378 Bird Oct. 11, 1938 2,132,380 Attwocd Oct. 11, 1938 2,132,750 Muller Oct. 11, 1938 2,269,686 Prickett Jan. 13, 1942 2,281,530 Strawn Apr. 28, 1942 2,334,337 Lawry Nov. 16, 1943 2,401,218 Bird May 28, 1946 2,573,503 Smith Oct. 30, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 22,615 Austria Aug. 1, 1905 7,541 Great Britain of 1906 OTHER REFERENCES Taggart: Handbook of Ore Dressing, John Wiley 8; Sons, New York, 1927, pages 687, 698, 699. Copy in Div. 25. 

